There was a look of utter shock on 11-year-old Mia's face when she was told she would have to open her piggy bank for Christmas shopping.
"Really? Do I have to?" she asked wide-eyed and unbelieving.
Her eight-year-old brother Ben was given the news that he would have to do chores to earn his gift money after having his allowance taken away due to his potty mouth.
He said, "OK," figuring he would run roughshod with the Swiffer a few times over the hardwood floors.
Giving kids the money to go out gift shopping is an easier solution than negotiating or battling over money, but experts say it doesn't have any lasting value.
"It's not teaching what the holidays are about and it's not teaching money management," said Sandra Martin, executive editor of Today's Parent magazine.
"It just teaches them that they can rely on you when they want to get something," she said.
Children should buy gifts based on what they can really afford, Ms. Martin said from Toronto.
"If your kid is too young to have an allowance or to have saved up the money, then you can talk about, 'What can we make for your sister, what can we make for grandma' - so they get the idea that it takes some effort and it's a symbolic gesture of how much that person means."
Credit counselling expert Margaret Johnson said parents should take their children shopping and let them compare prices and gifts "so they actually have some control over what they're doing."
Kids should be spending cash on gifts, said Johnson, president of Solutions Credit Counselling Service Inc. in Surrey, B.C.
Ideally, parents should use cash, too, for holiday shopping, she said, but it's not usually possible due to other financial demands.
"We've gotten away from a clear understanding of a credit card, a debit card and cash. I think kids should work in cash if you're with them. If you're not with them, then a debit card because of the safety issue."
Ms. Johnson recommends sitting down with kids and asking them who is on their list and how much money they have so they understand why they are buying gifts and how much they can afford.
Parents are really the role models for their children when it comes to spending, said Johnson, noting the average credit card debt she now sees is $32,000.
"So, if they constantly see you using your credit cards, they're going to use the plastic because they don't understand the relationship with money."
Patricia Lovett-Reid, senior vice-president at TD Waterhouse, said children can be taught that charity is part of the holidays.
"Teach kids that it's good to give," said Ms. Lovett-Reid, who writes and speaks about personal finance.
Ms. Lovett-Reid said parents should not impose their choices on gift giving.
"Let the children start to make some of their own choices," she said.
"While it may not be the best gift or the most appropriate gift, it's the fact that they thought about it and thought it through and they will learn from that as well."
If they over spend, kids can pay the amount back in the new year "just like you do if you spend too much," Ms. Lovett-Reid said.
She noted that today's kids are savvier about doing research about things they want to buy.
"They will go online. They will shop and compare so they have really harnessed the power of the Internet."
Experts say that parents should not only talk to their children about gift giving and the money that's involved, but what the season means to them and their families.
Kids shouldn't be forced to buy gifts for people they don't want to give to, added Johnson.
Ms. Lovett-Reid said it's about the time spent together.
"And so it isn't really about the dollars and cents in my opinion."